1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the Internet, and more particularly to a method for adding user-generated media into content systems.
2. Description of Related Art
The explosive growth of the Internet has made it not only a major information resource, but also a platform for sharing information among users. Some websites enable users to add information thereto for content enrichment purposes. For example, the website www.wikipedia.com may allow a first user to upload a definition for a term and a second user to add more content to the first user's definition. However, the information uploaded by the second user to the website www.wikipedia.com is merged into the first user's definition as a part of the definition, instead of as an individual document. As a result, it can be difficult for users to find out who contributed what, to find out whether there is newly uploaded information, or to sort, organize or search users' contributions. More importantly, the method of the wikipedia website may only allow users to augment content on the wikipedia website and is therefore website specific. It does not allow users to augment any online content by user generated content.
In another example, the website www.googleearth.com may allow a first user to placemark a place, and other users to add photos, notes, reviews or other information to the placemark. In a further example, the website www.youtube.com may allow users to upload video clips as searchable individual documents. However, these solutions are website specific as well.
Therefore, it may be desirable to provide a system which allows users to augment any online content by user generated content.